Gladstein Fellowship in Entrepreneurial Leadership

The Gladstein Fellowship in Entrepreneurial Leadership is designed to provide an intensive experience in practical rabbinics and community development for outstanding students studying for the rabbinate at The Jewish Theological Seminary and the Schechter Institute of Judaic Studies.

Program Goals

The primary goals of this program are to:

Develop and inspire a cadre of dedicated Conservative congregational rabbis with strong professional, organizational, and interpersonal skills, who will seek to build strong and vibrant Jewish communities

Form alliances with flourishing Conservative congregations (Teaching Congregations), whose rabbis are gifted teachers and community builders (Mentoring Rabbis), to provide Gladstein Fellows with internships designed to enhance professional, organizational, and interpersonal skills

Identify developing Jewish communities that have had little or no rabbinic leadership, but have the desire and potential to grow as Conservative congregations (Growing Communities), and to place Fellows in those communities to provide religious and spiritual guidance, in addition to rabbinic leadership in the development of the infrastructure necessary to sustain the communities' growth

Contribute to the growth of the vital center of North American Judaism by placing Gladstein Fellows as rabbis in "A"-sized congregations as defined by the Rabbinical Assembly for a period of three years post-ordination.

Program Elements

Gladstein Fellows in Entrepreneurial Leadership are selected in Year One of The Rabbinical School. Gladstein Fellows complete the full Gladstein Fellowship program during years four and five of The Rabbinical School

Admission into the program is open to students in The Rabbinical School who express a strong commitment to serving as congregational rabbis upon graduation and who acknowledge the goals of the Gladstein Fellowship in Entrepreneurial Leadership.

The stated goal of creating a cadre of dedicated rabbis committed to building strong and vibrant Jewish communities can best be met as each Gladstein Fellow forms strong ties with a Growing Community while a student, and serves as rabbi to that or a similar "A"-sized congregation for a period of three years after ordination.

Upon acceptance as Gladstein Fellows, students sign a written document affirming their commitment to the goals of the program, declaring their intention to serve out the program terms.

Those rabbis serving in the field who have participated in the program as Fellows become part of the Gladstein Fellows Advisory Group, which consults with Rabbi Daniel Nevins, Pearl Resnick Dean of The Rabbinical School and dean of the Division of Religious Leadership at JTS, and reports on the impact of the program on their rabbinates. They are also included in the planning and participation of the annual or semiannual program for the Gladstein Fellows and Mentors.

Post-Ordination

Upon admission to the Gladstein Fellowship during the first year of Rabbinical School, the student agrees to serve as rabbi in an "A"-size congregation, as defined by the Rabbinical Assembly, for at least three years after ordination. However, understanding that the range and nature of congregations seeking to hire rabbis changes from year to year, if employment in a suitable "A"-sized congregation is not available the Dean of the Rabbinical School may use his/her discretion in allowing a graduating Fellow to apply their training in entrepreneurial rabbinics in other congregational settings

Funding

The Gladstein Fellowship in Entrepreneurial Leadership is strictly merit-based: admission is need-blind. Gladstein Fellows in their first, second, and third years of attending JTS will receive $5,000 or 20 percent of tuition, where "tuition" is defined as tuition and fees, whichever sum is greater, in merit-based aid annually.

Fellowship and stipend funding for Gladstein Fellows in their fourth and fifth years of attending JTS will be an amount equal to full tuition to The Rabbinical School (where "tuition" is defined as tuition and fees, unless the student is otherwise receiving significant tuition funding from JTS, in which case that funding will be deducted from the funding Gladstein Fellows receive), plus a living stipend in an amount equal to a full housing allowance for a student living on or near campus. In addition, as all Gladstein Fellows are required to complete rabbinic internships, they shall receive from JTS the same stipend or other financial assistance that it offers other students undertaking rabbinic internships.

Gladstein Fellows are required to inform the dean of The Rabbinical School if they are offered or hold any other fellowships, whether within or outside JTS. If those outside fellowships award the student substantial financial benefits, then adjustments may be made to the student's Gladstein funding. If Gladstein Fellows receive other fellowships from outside JTS or have other placements, those fellowships or placements cannot put demands on them that would hamper their abilities to fulfill their commitments to the Gladstein Fellowship program. In such a case, the Gladstein Fellow must terminate the outside activity.

Any questions about the above will be resolved by the dean of The Rabbinical School, whose decision will be final.

Contact

To learn more about the Gladstein Fellowship or to apply, please contact Rabbi Jonathan Lipnick, project director of the Gladstein Fellowship at (212) 678-8964 or via email.